Of Hills and Bluebells
by Enchantable
Summary: How to Train Your Dragon Fic HTTYD . Post-Movie Hiccup has a little trouble making it up the hill to his house, fortunately Astrid's there to help and the two of them get a moment to be, well, viking teenagers who saved the world.
1. Chapter 1

**OKAY THIS HAS SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING IN THE FILM!!**

**Just so you know.**

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Drenched in mud and more exhausted than he'd been in days, Hiccup dragged himself to the hill that led to his house.

It had been a good day. He'd gone flying with Toothless and that was something they both loved. It was wonderful, effortless even with the metal that took the place of his foot. Of course now he wasn't flying with a massive dragon trying to eat him which was a definite plus. It was easy now to make the quick changes Toothless needed to fly. Gobber had made some actual improvements to the fin he'd made, this design working even smoother than his original had. Toothless didn't seem to mind the new design, but Hiccup imagined the dragon was so ecstatic to be flying again that he wouldn't have minded anything at this point. Hiccup had given up on getting Toothless out of the saddle and fin for the night, when he'd gone to get them off the dragon Toothless had bared his teeth and swerved much faster than Hiccup was able to keep up with given his lack of a foot. In time he knew he'd have no problem with it but as of now, it was impossible.

And it wasn't the only thing.

Feet weren't something that one took for granted. They let you walk, run--in Astrid's case they let you reverse summersault--control the fin of your dragon. And they let you know when they'd been abused too much. Like when you stood for too long or ran too fast. Even wrapped in the fur of his boots, Hiccup's feet had always let him know when they'd been abused. The first few times he'd flown with Toothless he'd spent the night rubbing his ankle from the awkwardness of changing fin positions. His other foot had been hurting viciously from taking on more weight, especially when his other leg began to ache and he favored it. Most of the time he could ignore it, most of the time he forced himself to ignore it. To ignore the 'tap tap' the metal made on the ground as he walked, to ignore the waves of pain that came from the stump cradled in the metal. He ignored it and sensing his actions, Toothless did as well. But when they were alone Toothless sometimes would whine and nose his leg, as if trying to see what he could do to make it better. It hurt to push his nose away but touching the area was the worst for Hiccup.

It royally sucked that his house was on a hill. His father said it was because they were the leaders and leaders lived where they could look over their people. Hiccup had hated it for a while. Running up the hill after a long day, first as a blacksmith apprentice, then as a viking trainee, that had sucked but he'd usually been too miserable to care. But hobbling up the hill on a leg that wasn't fully there when life did anything but suck, that was the worst. He'd wanted to be a great Viking for as long as he could remember and battlescars were part of the package. But he hadn't quite expected that his first scar would be a full on missing limb. Then again, he hadn't quite expected his first dragon kill to the king of the dragons. Bigger battles, bigger scars. Simple logic really and yet when he was looking up at the hill leading towards his house none of it made him feel any better. Easing a bit of weight onto his prosthetic, Hiccup bit back a curse as agony shot up his leg. Hills were the hardest to manage. He was going to have to make it up there, he just wasn't entirely sure he was going to be able to do it without screaming.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup froze at the familiar shout of his name. Turning his head, he looked over to see Astrid running towards him. Despite the tight braid she kept her hair in, most of the blonde locks had escaped and fallen around her face. The band she wore around her forehead was in a different place, more to keep her hair out of her eyes. It wasn't surprising to anyone that Astrid had spent more time on her dragon than of the other newly minted vikings combined. She'd kept the Nadder she'd ridden the night of the battle, even though she'd been dropped. They were well suited to each other, both very skilled with throwing things--Astrid throwing her axes and the Nadder firing spikes from its tail--even if Astrid complained that her dragon was the most vain of the group. Astrid usually came back from her rides wet since the dragon, not used to flying with her weight on it, tended to swoop by the water to catch a glimpse of itself and wound up plunging them both in. And, for better or worse, Toothless, thinking it was a game, would dive readily in after them.

"Hey Astrid," Hiccup said, "you're looking dry today."

"We flew over land today," she said as an explanation, "I didn't see you up there," she added.

"Toothless decided to go high today," he said, thinking of just how high Toothless had taken them, "very high. But going over land, that must've been fun."

"It was good for target practice," the viking girl said.

"Target practice huh? How's that going?" Hiccup asked.

"Its going great," she said with an enthusiastic smile, the kind she usually only gave when she had accomplished something in training, "we're really getting the hang of it now."

"That's great," Hiccup said with a smile.

They fell silent after that.

And that was the only thing harder than vikings and dragons or any combination of the two: girls. Without the whole 'impressive dragon' thing, Hiccup had no idea how to deal with a girl, much less a girl like Astrid who wold have had no trouble kicking his ass back when he had two feet. Even having saved the world, Hiccup was still expecting her to show up with a guy one day. A real viking who could throw an axe properly or could, at the very least, walk in a strait line without having to think about it as much as he now had to. Now that everyone had a dragon, he wasn't sure exactly what motivated a girl who wore skulls around her waist to think he was viking boyfriend material but every time he saw her she always tried to talk to him. Except, as he found out, he wasn't very good at talking to girls either. Even ones who were bold enough to grab him by his shirt and kiss _him_. Conversation would always end up in one of those awkward pauses until one of them would either suggest flying or make an excuse or be called away.

"Well I should probably be heading home," he said, motioning towards the house he had been avoiding going towards.

"Oh, right, me too," Astrid said, "well, um, bye!"

"Right, see you tomorrow," Hiccup said, "maybe we can take a fly together?"

"I'd like that," Astrid said, her cheeks turning pink and Hiccup felt his heart soar, "see you!"

Astrid turned away from Hiccup, starting on the path that would take her home. Hiccup was a guy she was sure she'd never figure out. He was just so, so different from the boys she was used to. He didn't make comments about her fighting ability or that she was a girl or any of the passes that the other vikings made at her. He was always sweet and nice and more than a little awkward and Astrid had _no_ idea how to act around that. Guys liked girls who were delicate or they liked girls who could fight and Astrid had no idea which Hiccup liked--much less how to act like the one he wanted. Not that she wanted to go changing for someone, but she liked Hiccup. Liked him a lot. And people sometimes acted a bit different for the people they liked. Of course now that he was the big viking hero, Hiccup had the pick of any girl in the village and, for the life of her, Astrid couldn't figure out why he'd pick one like her.

She hated not understanding things.

And Hiccup was one thing she was sure she never would. Like with his foot. He kept smiling and saying it was fine even though she kept seeing him cringe when he thought no-one was looking. She'd thought he was different from the other vikings but that was just what they did. When you were in pain you hid it. Showing pain was showing weakness. Enemies didn't stop just because you were hurt, they went in for the kill. Astrid knew it, Hiccup knew it and yet she couldn't exactly put her finger on why it bothered her so much that he was in pain and determined to hide it. She was sure if she lost a limb she'd be devastated but if Hiccup was he was very good at hiding it. Astrid knew she should have been okay with the fact that he was able to do that but when she saw him hiding it--and not doing an incredibly good job of it--she just felt hurt. Hurt and upset and, if she looked inside herself, she realized that she felt like he was pushing people away. Like he was pushing _her_ away.

Feet pausing, Astrid turned back around. She wasn't going to go to bed feeling all upset because she thought that her not-quite-boyfriend was pushing her away. Hiccup might've been the non-confrontational type--for the most part anyway--but she was not. Squaring her shoulders she stormed back up the path towards Hiccup's house. He couldn't have gotten far up that hill and, if he had, then she was going to storm up there and knock on the door until he talked to her. Rounding the corner, Astrid already had her mouth open to talk to him when she came into sight of the hill and all the words she'd had went out of her head.

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup was on all fours on the ground, his fingers digging into the grass. Astrid raced up the hill as fast as she could, falling to her knees beside where he was. His breath was escaping in harsh gasps and she could see that most of his weight was on his good leg and hands. Immediately she realized that his leg must've given out beneath him. Of course he would've have said anything, he'd have stayed on the hill all night before he let anyone know he'd fallen. Astrid had been upset that he had been hiding his pain but now she realized that it must have been much worse than he had let on. Reaching out her fingers laid against his shoulder before she snatched her hand back. He was burning up. Feverish, in pain, his leg giving out--it was a miracle he'd been able to hide what he was feeling at all.

"Come on, Hiccup, you've gotta get up. We've gotta get inside," she said, "I'll help, its okay--" she fumbled messily over the words, trying to find the right ones and failing horribly at it.

"M'fine," came the reply, through gritted teeth.

"No you're not," she said, reaching out only to have him stop her.

"Yes," he said, shaking his head as if to clear it, "I'm fine," he said, pushing himself up on, what Astrid suspected, was pride alone, "really, see? Fi--"

His leg buckled. Astrid jumped to her feet, grabbing his left arm and pulling it over her shoulder, making sure to keep her left leg back so it didn't bump his. Even so she saw the silver of his prosthetic foot connect to the ground. Instinctively his fingers gripped hers as a sound escape his clenched teeth. Astrid moved her other arm so that it gripped his waist, pulling more of his weight onto her frame. It was hard to hold onto someone on a hill but Astrid dug her heels in determinedly as Hiccup struggled through the agony. His fingers dug into hers and she knew that on his other side he was clenching his fist. When his fingers finally unfurled, he looked over at her with eyes that shone brightly in the moonlight and Astrid felt her heart clench.

"Sorry about that," he began, "I don't usually--"

"Its fine," she said, "lets just get up the hill okay?"

"I can--" she glared at him, "okay," he said, giving in, "lets get up the hill."

Together they hobbled up the hill the rest of the way, Astrid's gaze fixed determinedly ahead. Hiccup tried to do the same but every so often his eyes went over to Astrid's features. He'd tried to make it up the hill but his leg had given out and all thoughts of looking cool and viking-like had tumbled from his head as he'd tried wildly to keep from jarring the injury too much. And of course, out of all the people in the village, Astrid had to be the one who saw him fall flat on his face. She didn't seem upset or off put by his tumble though. Her mind seemed singularly focused on the task ahead, but her grip on him was almost painfully tight. As if she was trying her best to keep him as close as she could.

Together they made it to the door and Astrid knocked it open without pausing. The inside of their house was massive, bigger than any other on the island and, most importantly, it was fortified with stone. It was one of the oldest houses on the island, thanks to those things. If it'd been anyone else, at any other time, Hiccup knew he wold have been embarrassed but his leg was throbbing viciously and for once he couldn't find it in himself to push the pain aside. Astrid immediately steered him over to the table easing him down onto it before she disappeared. Almost faster than Hiccup could comprehend the girl was back with water, bandages and other supplies that, for the life of him, Hiccup had no idea how she found in their house. Sitting down next to him on the bench, Astrid swung one of her legs over the side before turning to him.

"I need to see your leg," she told him.

"Huh? No, I'm sure its fine--" he began. She fixed him with that same stare that had him letting her help him up the hill and Hiccup sighed, "okay. But its not as bad as it looks."

He turned and eased the leg towards the bench, trying to be careful with it. He'd knocked it enough time to know how unpleasant that was and given how badly it already hurt, he had a feeling that knocking it again might have really made him loose consciousness. As if falling flat on your face in front of your not-quite girlfriend wasn't bad enough. Gripping his pant legs in his hands, Hiccup dragged his leg up as high as he could, hissing when the weight of the prosthetic pulled at the skin. A gentle hand was suddenly on him. He looked up to see Astrid, her gaze fixed on his leg as she guided it the rest of the way onto the bench. Slowly she rolled up his pant leg, to reveal the skin underneath and the straps that kept the prosthetic in place. The skin was red and swollen but the village healer had just told him to buck up, slapping him on the back with enough force that Hiccup almost had to stay and have him inspect his broken nose.

"We've gotta take this thing off," she said looking at the straps digging into his skin, "you're all swollen."

"Some Viking I am," Hiccup said looking at his hands as Astrid gripped his leg, undoing the straps of his prosthetic, "can't even make it up a hill."

"Okay I'm gonna take it off now," Astrid said looking up at him, "you ready?"

"Do I really have to answer that?" Hiccup asked with a weak smile.

"Not really," she said gripping the device, "okay on three. One, two--"

She tugged it off. Hiccup bit his lip viciously, his fingers gripping the bench as the metal came off. Astrid held onto his leg, stabilizing it as best she could while her other hand held the metal thing in the air. Black spots danced in front of his vision but he clung to consciousness with everything he had in him. Slowly the pain receded to a manageable level. Hiccup slowly let out a breath of air as Astrid set the metal down, his eyes going to his shin. He swallowed as he looked at the leg, at the round, smooth stump where there should have been more leg and a foot. Except now it just ended. Hiccup swallowed thickly, part of him thinking that he should've been used to it by now and a part of him thinking that looking down and seeing air where your foot used to be was the kind of thing that one never got used to.

Expertly, Astrid held onto his leg before picking up the bowl of water next to her. Taking the cloth she'd taken with it, she began to wet the skin around Hiccup's wound. At first the sensation made him tense, but slowly he realized that it didn't hurt, it just felt weird. Astrid's brow was knitted in concentration as she worked over his wound. She was good, good and gentle--though gentle really was being good considering what was being done. Even though the hand that held his calf was calloused and the grip was sturdy her touch was careful and almost delicate.

"You're good at this," he said finally, "where'd you learn?"

"My mom taught me," she said, risking a glance up at him before looking back at her task, "all the viking women learn how to take care of--" she trailed off, her cheeks burning and Hiccup knew what she was going to say.

Viking women learned to take care of their husbands.

"My dad still talks about my mom and how she used to take care of him when he'd get hurt," Hiccup said. Astrid looked up at him, "he tried to do it to me once and lets just say I walked out of there more injured than I had been."

Astrid smiled at that and Hiccup felt his heart soar. Setting down the rag, she picked up the bandages and began to wind them around the end of his leg. Her hands were steady and careful as they performed the task. Her mother must have been very skilled to teach her daughter so well. Either that or she'd had lots of others to practice on. Hiccup didn't quite like the thought of that, especially when viking women were trained to take care of their husbands. The idea of astrid bandaging another guy made him glared at the stump of his leg.

"So you gonna tell me what else is wrong?" she asked finally, quietly.

Hiccup sighed and looked at her. She met his gaze for a moment before her eyes began to search his face, as if she could find the answers in there. She could tell that he was upset and not just about his missing leg. Everyone else seemed to be so wrapped up in the gratitude of the war being over that the little things that upset him didn't seem to matter as much.

"Its nothing--" he began.

"Hiccup," she retorted, her voice taking on the edge that he was beginning to think preluded her yelling.

"Its just, everything I did that people thought was brave I did because Toothless taught me," he looked down, "not because I was smart or good at being a viking--"

"Hey!" Astrid cut him off, "you listen to me. You are a good viking. And you were smart enough to see that Toothless wasn't a threat--that none of the dragons were a threat. And if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have Bluebell or--"

"Bluebell?" he asked.

"My dragon," she said, flushing pink as she looked at his leg, "she's blue and vain and--" Hiccup raised an eyebrow and Astrid slowly looked up at him, "its my favorite flower," she said finally, her voice soft.

"You've got a favorite flower?" he asked.

"Everyone's got a favorite flower!" she shot back, cheeks flaming.

"Not me."

"That's because you're a boy!"

Hiccup tried not to smile but it was hard. With her hair askew and her cheeks flaming and her hand on his leg, Astrid looked--well, Hiccup realized she looked beautiful. Just as pretty as she did when she was on the battlefield doing her acrobatics. Or when she was riding dragons. And he realized then that if anyone had to find him looking like he did, he was glad it was her. Cheeks still red, she kept her eyes fixed on his leg. Hiccup looked down to where the skin ended too. She'd done a good job on the bandages and his leg actually did feel better. Hiccup realized that, of course, Astrid would be good at that. She was good at everything else too.

"How do you do all that?" Hiccup asked before he could stop himself. Astrid looked at him curiously, "you can heal, you can ride--you can kick anyone's ass--"

"Its just practice," Astrid mumbled, "I'm not naturally good at anything really. I just practice hard."

"Well you do a good job," he said lamely but Astrid smiled, ducking her head as she inspected the bandages around his stump, "it looks weird," Hiccup said finally looking down at the leg, "I mean, I know its supposed to look cool and like I'm tough but I just thought--" he shook his head, "I thought my first battle scar would be smaller."

"That's what you get for your first viking fight being saving the world," Astrid said.

"Our first fight," he said. Her features shadowed as she looked down at her hands, "hey, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid looked at him. Even with the substitute foot and the echoes of pain on his face, it was a thousand times better than when Toothless had first unfurled his wings. Hiccup had been unconscious the entire ride back, too pale, too small--too everything like she'd thought he'd been. Astrid had been on the boat with him. Stoick hadn't left his side the entire time and Astrid had been torn between hovering over him like an anxious girlfriend and pretending that she hadn't fallen head over heels for the boy. Toothless, too, had been determined to stay by Hiccup, constantly hovering over the boy and nudging him like he would wake up. But Hiccup remained limp and pale, even as the women bound the stump of his missing foot as best they could with the limited supplies they had brought.

Astrid didn't think she'd ever forget the night she'd woken up to the sound of splashing and whining. Dragon whining. Toothless had been half over the boat, sticking his head in the water and trying to get fish. With a combination of anger and shame, Astrid realized that no-one had thought to feed the dragon since he'd been kidnapped. Astrid had found food for the dragon, which he'd accepted enthusiastically before heading towards Hiccup once more. But when he'd gotten there and realized she wasn't following, he'd immediately gone back to her and nudged her with his nose. Astrid had made excuses to the dragon but he'd been insistent and before she could figure out how to get out of it she'd found herself sitting next to the pale, unconscious Hiccup with Toothless curled around her, head resting near her shoulder as they looked at their friend. And now when she looked at him, alive and conscious, she still felt the jolt of fear when she thought back to just how pale he'd been.

"I was scared, okay?" she said finally, lowering her head like it was a great shame, "I saw Toothless there and I didn't see you and I thought--" she broke of shaking her head, "I thought you were gone."

Hiccup lowered his leg until it dangled above the floor. It didn't hurt that badly once it was bandaged properly. Carefully he moved forward until he was closer to the embarrassed viking girl, close enough that he could feel the warmth of her body, close enough so that their knees touched together. He was careful to keep his movements slow and easy and Astrid gave no sign of reaction to his closer proximity as she kept her face down, obviously embarrassed at admitting that she had been scared he was almost dead. Hiccup realized that he really didn't have any idea how to deal with an embarrassed girl, especially one like Astrid. She was glaring at the fire like she was hoping it'd burn the house down but even so she wasn't making any sudden moves towards the door.

"I couldn't have done it without you guys," he said quietly.

"Yeah, but you were the one who got hurt. After all the things we did to you--you still trusted us and now you're--" she looked down at his leg.

"Hey, its okay," Hiccup said quickly, "I've got experience with this kinda thing, remember? I made Toothless his fin, I can make myself a foot."

"But you shouldn't have to," Astrid said with a shake of her head.

"I thought chicks liked battle scars," Hiccup said with a smile. Astrid fixed him with a look.

"How can you be making jokes?" she demanded, "if I--I'd be devastated but you're, you're laughing."

"Well crying's not gonna bring it back," he said looking down at her foot that dangled where there was only empty air between his and the ground, "and I can still fly. And its not like I was ever gonna be that fast or strong or brave--"

"I think you're the bravest viking I've ever seen," she interrupted looking at him honestly. .

Maybe it was because Hiccup had only really been good at stupid and crazy. Or maybe it was the fact that out of all the vikings on Berk, Hiccup realized he wouldn't have wanted anyone else to find him but the girl sitting right in front of him. But for whatever reason, before he could talk himself out of it, Hiccup leaned forward and clumsily pressed his lips to hers.

Astrid's eyes widened as he kissed her. She had always been the one to initiate the quick kisses they'd shared but this, this felt different. He was gentle, careful even as he kissed her but Astrid shivers all the way from her headband to her boots. Closing her eyes she tentatively kissed him back, discovering that she didn't quite mind letting Hiccup take a bit of control from her. She leaned forward, one of her hands coming to cover his as they kissed. It was slower, in the house, more of an exploration of each other than the brief kisses they'd shared before. When they slowly pulled apart Astrid kept her eyes closed for a moment, letting the feeling of him kissing her seep into her fully. She didn't think she had ever been kissed like that in her entire life. Slowly she opened her eyes to see Hiccup looking at her anxiously, his eyes moving over her face. Astrid ducked her head before looking up at him, smiling in a way that Hiccup couldn't help but return.

"Sorry I--" he began.

Astrid cut him off by leaning forward and kissing him. The initial jolt of surprise faded as Hiccup kissed her back eagerly, realizing that next to flying, kissing was one of his favorite things to do. The rush, the thrill, all of it was there and all of it was wonderful. This time there was less hesitation, a bit more tentative exploration and Hiccup felt like he really was flying. The pulled away again, this time both looking at each other breathlessly.

"Don't apologize," she ordered, her voice still breathless, Hiccup could only nod before her lips found his once again.

Neither knew how long they sat there, but far too quickly for Hiccup's liking Astrid pulled away leaving him very certain that in addition to the list of things once thought impossible, such as being a hero and saving the world, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III officially had a girlfriend.

"I should--I should be going home," she said finally, "or my mom's going to be mad. Are you're okay?"

"Yes I promise I can manage to get to my bedroom," he said raising a hand, "see? No hills here."

"Right," she smiled and ducked her head, "okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow," she walked over to the door, "night Hiccup."

"Night Astrid--oh, Astrid?" she paused, "thanks," he said. She smiled and nodded before ducking out of the house.

Resisting the urge to jump up and cheer, Hiccup got to his foot and began to hobble towards his bedroom.

He wasn't more than halfway there when a warm nose came under his elbow. Surprised, he looked down to see a still-muddy Toothless supporting him as he made his way to his destination. Looking up he saw that his bedroom door was opened, when it hadn't been a moment ago. He looked down once again at the dragon who beamed up at him with pride at a job well done and Hiccup realized that Toothless had been there the entire time. But he'd remained silent, he'd let Hiccup and Astrid figure out what had to be done. Letting out a breath, he shook his head and looked down at his dragon who had once again been looking out for him in ways that Hiccup hadn't known he needed to be looked after in.

"Thanks buddy," he said, reaching over and scratching Toothless's favorite spot as the dragon voiced his enjoyment of the action.

Together the boy and his dragon made their way to bed.

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As was her habit, Astrid rose with the sun.

Vikings got up early. And vikings with parents who had chore lists got up even earlier. Still half asleep, Astrid threw on her clothes and began to do the tasks her parents gave her. The list was much shorter now that she was a viking but it was still there. Her mother had said that it was important viking women learn things, things that they needed to know. Like how to bandage injuries and make edible food that didn't involve roasting animal carcasses on a spit. Astrid had always rolled her eyes and told her mom the stuff was ridiculous and pointless since she wasn't going to have a man to bandage or cook for. Her mother had always just smiled as if Astrid was saying something silly. But that morning, for some reason, she found she didn't mind doing the chores her mom had given her. Not after last night when they'd come in handy. if there was one thing Astrid could appreciate, it was a useful skill.

She was still glad when it was done though.

Astrid ran down the hill to where the dragons were gathering. Unsurprisingly, Bluebell had taken up residence near the sea shore where she could have the food she liked ad the bonus of looking at herself. Most of the dragons still preferred to sleep outdoors, though Astrid had a feeling it was only a matter of time before she added cleaning up after Bluebell to her list of chores. By the time she got to the makeshift hut where people were storing their dragon riding equipment, Bluebell was already waiting for her. Astrid still wasn't quite used to the sight of a dragon standing waiting for her, nose buried under her wing joint. The moment the dragon smelt her, Bluebells' head shot up and even though Astrid knew the dragon was a friend, a part of her still thought to go for the dragon's blindspot. With a quick motion, Bluebell's nose was right in her face, the dragon huffing out air as it looked at her.

"Hey," Astrid said, stifling a yawn as she reached out and scratched the spot above Bluebell's eye. The dragon arched into it, letting out a huff of pleasure at the touch and Astrid smiled, "good girl, hold tight while I get the saddle okay?"

Bluebell shook her head as Astrid moved away. Stepping into the shade of the makeshift hut that had been set up to house the dragon riding equipment, Astrid went to her cubby to get out Bluebell's saddle and reins. All the dragons had different equipment considering their bodies and abilities. She rode Bluebell higher up because of her spikes and looped the reins of around her horn and through her spikes. Her reins were longer than most of the others and took up most of the cubby. Pulling out them first and then the saddle she almost missed the thing that came tumbling out with them. Looping the reins around her neck and tucking the saddle under her arm she bent down and picked up the object that had fallen out.

They were bluebells.

Astrid held the flower in her hands, looking at the blue petals. Quickly she looked around to make sure that no-one was around before looking at the flowers. They were beautiful and before she could contain herself a wide grin broke across her lips. No boy had ever given her flowers before. But there they were, in her cubby right next to her dragon riding equipment. Turning around she came to the other side to see Hiccup standing there, scratching Bluebell. Dropping the equipment next to her dragon, Astrid walked over to where Hiccup was standing and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That's for riding when you should be resting," she told him with a glare.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Astrid's eyes widened in surprise before they slid closed as she kissed him back. When he finally pulled away she looked up at him, too breathless to be embarrassed.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"For being the girl I bring flowers to," he said with a smile.

As the sun rose higher in the sky and more people took to their dragons for early morning rides, Astrid and Hiccup were already clear on the other side of the island, intent on going fishing.

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**Okay that was one of my favorite movies ever and I think I'm the only one who fangirled over Astrid/Hiccup but whatever. They were cute.**

**ALSO after an unfortunate incident allow me to make this clear: IF YOU WANT TO USE THE NAME BLUEBELL YOU MUST ASK ME FIRST. You cannot just take it. Contact me and we will talk but if you just 'take' the name, even with crediting me, your story will be considered plagiarism and will be treated as such. I thought it was common sense but apparently not.**

**Anyway PLEASE review!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**First off:**

**HICCUPXASTRID FTW!!**

***ahem* had to get that out of my system. I LOVE finding other shippers! You guys rule!**

**Next, so I had a draft of this story and most it went into the creation of the multichaptered fic. But I still had a fair amount in this, including a really sweet scene that I wanted to make into a oneshot. So here's the followup!**

* * *

Her feet braced on the cliff, Astrid's eyes scanned the horizon.

The sky was a bright and cheery shade of blue but she could see storm clouds on the horizon. The ground beneath her was covered in a thick lair of frost. After all, it was their first winter as really honest to Odin Vikings. And Vikings had responsibilities. Like hunting. The young and the old stayed nearer to the village to gather what they could and prepare the food but the able bodied went out to hunt. Their food supplies were not as short as they had been, since the dragons were no longer attacking them, but dragons needed food too and there were only so many fish on the island of Berk. Most of the younger Vikings seemed content to fly by on their dragons, shouting in elation and scaring off the prey. But not her. She had a job to do, a job that would help the village. And that was to get food. Plus it would be excellent practice for their upcoming hunting trip, another initiation rite for the young vikings. Eyes scanning the horizon and surrounding land, Astrid sighed when she realized there wasn't anything worth hunting in the immediate vicinity.

Raising her fingers to her lips, Astrid let out a sharp whistle that echoed along the cliff.

After a month, the rush of wings no longer made her heart jump in her chest with fear. Especially not the familiar rhythm of Bluebell's wings. The strong thump was as easy to recognize as the pounding of footsteps. Shouldering her axe and easing her weight back, Astrid tensed, waiting for the right moment. A shadow fell over her and she took off, running for all she was worth towards the cliff. The plunge below was impossibly steep and far, certain death for any who jumped off without someone to catch them. But Astrid wasn't afraid as she kicked off the ground and launched herself into the air. The world went topsy-turvey as she summersaulted. Bluebell easily followed the movement and as Astrid came out of the flip, her legs went onto either side of the saddle. With a flick of her head, Bluebell sent the reins back towards the young viking and instead of falling towards her death, suddenly Astrid was soaring towards the heavens. Biting back a cry of job, Astrid instead tightened her hands on the reins, pulling up as Bluebell followed the command, soaring up past the clouds.

Wings spread wide, Bluebell banked on an air current, taking them to the side. Astrid tightened her legs on the sides of the saddle, looking up at the clouds as they flew by. As they learned more and more about their onetime enemies, it became clear that dragons had their own peculiarities. Bluebell, for instance, loved to glide. Her wingspan was impressive and when she spread them to their full length, the rest of her body held perfectly still, Astrid felt like there wasn't a dragon and a girl in the sky but one being. As time went on their movements had become more and more seamless. Unlike Toothless who seemed fine on land, Bluebell far preferred to fly and, secretly, Astrid did as well. Unilke Hiccup with his four legs, Bluebell had two. And though those two legs were very good at running and jumping, she was far more at home up in the air. But of all the dragons, Astrid had never seen a dragon who could make the kind of landings that Bluebell and the other Deadly Nadder's could.

As they dipped below the cloud level a blur shot by them. Bluebell let out a screech of displeasure at the race she had not known was going on. Astrid's eyes widened before they narrowed, a grin tugging at her lips. The thoughts of hunting went out of her head as she looked at the viking and dragon zipping ahead of them.

"So that's how we're gonna play, huh?" she said tightening her legs and grip, "come on girl, lets show them how its done!"

Bluebell took off like a rocket. Astrid leaned low on the dragon's neck, making herself as compact as possible as Bluebell shot through the air, her wings pumping with the current. Seamlessly Bluebell found the currents in the air, using her innate ability to augment her raw power. The wind bit through Astrid's fur lined cloak but she barely paid it any thought as the viking and dragon up ahead of them came into sharper and sharper focus. At the last moment, she tugged the reins and Bluebell shot upwards, spreading her wings wide as they overtook the pair, casting them in the shadow of her massive wingspan. Before she could stop herself, Astrid let out a whoop of exuberance that Bluebell echoed loudly. But the dragon didn't loose speed, continuing to zip past. Almost effortlessly the viking and dragon that had been underneath them rolled through the sky until they flew directly parallel to them.

With his hair mussed by the wind and his cheeks stained pink, Hiccup looked every inch a viking aboard his dragon. He and Toothless were seamless together up in the sky. Astrid knew it from riding with them but to see them together, it took her breath away. In the sky Toothless was unmatched for speed and agility, easily performing stunts that were difficult for the other dragons. In the months since the dragons had taken hold, Hiccup and Toothless had still gone out every single day, working to overcome the handicaps they both suffered. But unless you looked closely for the tell tale flash of red and silver, you wouldn't think there was anything missing from the two of them. Even in mid air, the two maneuvered easily so they were flying backwards, nose to nose with her and Bluebell. Like a synchronized pair, the two dragons spread their wings and caught the same current, gliding seamlessly together over the clouds. Like her, Hiccup was dressed in fur for winter, the bow over his back showing that he'd set out with the same mission as her, though Astrid had a feeling anything that the pair caught would be done by Toothless.

"Hey!" he called with a grin, over the wind that blew between them, "come on!" he motioned as Toothless dove to the side.

Bluebell seamlessly followed the other dragon as they began to loop across the sky in a dizzying array of acrobatics. Hiccup and Toothless were seamless together, easily flipping and rotating across the sky. Bluebell was bigger than Toothless but better at attuning herself to the currents in the air. The wind stung at Astrid's eyes as Bluebell shot after Toothless. She could feel her dragon making the smallest of adjustments to each beat of her wings. Soon the two dragons were neck to neck, soaring as fast as they could towards a destination unknown. Astrid turned her head to the side. Hiccup looked over his shoulder at the same time. Astrid grinned devilishly at him.

"Is that all you got?!" she shouted over the challenge.

There had been a time, not too long ago, when Hiccup would have blushed and fumbled, trying to hold onto whatever dignity he had left. But not now. The sky was his home, it was where he was the best. Though, he had to admit, Astrid was pretty good herself. Instead of fumbling and muttering, he grinned right back at her and adjusted his stance. Astrid's eyes narrowed, her gaze scanning them with the same intensity that Bluebell did. Angling his prosthetic foot, Hiccup held her gaze as he made the change in Toothless's tail. Seamlessly responding, the dragon pulled up sharply, charging through the clouds. Hiccup looked down to see if they were following but could see nothing but clouds. Maybe they had--

Suddenly the clouds gave way as Bluebell shot through them, chest to chest with Toothless. He heard Astrid give a whoop of pure elation as her dragon soared upwards. Not one to be easily beat, Toothless rocketed just ahead of her, using his compact form to his advantage. The two young vikings and their dragons broke through the cloud barrier and into the bright, clear sky above. He saw Bluebell bank on the clouds, turning horizontal. Seamlessly Toothless followed the action, bringing them side to side above the clouds below them. Cheeks turned pink by the wind, Astrid looked over at him with a bright smile that Hiccup couldn't help but return.

"Not too bad," Hiccup called over with a smile.

"You got some nice moves yourself," Astrid called over. Toothless made a noise, "you too," she said to the dragon, "and you," she added, patting Bluebell's side.

Abruptly the dragons banked to the side, taking them towards the cliffs. They let their dragons go. Sometimes dragons needed to do things that their vikings did not a dragon pulled insistently then it was best to just let them go. The dragons flew over to a cliff. Toothless landed easily on the ground as Bluebell landed next to them.

"I think they've gotta warm up," Hiccup said, bending down and unhooking his foot from the special stirrup on Toothless's saddle as Astrid hopped off Bluebells back. Immediately both dragons sought out drier ground, breathing fire and curling on the warmed ground, "I hate it when the weather turns."

"Its just the first few weeks," Astrid said as their dragons shifted and got comfy, "and then we get to go on our first hunting trip!"

Hiccup checked one of the sacks tied to his dragon's side, deep in thought. In the months following their fight and defeat of the dragon King he'd managed to successfully avoid any and all axe/bow/weapons related activities. Between designing a suitable foot for himself and riding gear for the entire village, he'd been up to his eyeballs in work. Gobber had lent his expertise as a blacksmith, making helpful changes that Hiccup hadn't even thought of, and while the work had gone faster than he would have thought, there was no shortage of it. He'd spent the days tired and sore and happier than he could remember being. By the time the frost set in, he had a decent foot figured out for himself and the entire village set up with gear for riding their dragons.

Perhaps it was his relationship with Hiccup or the fact that he'd just been around them for so long but Gobber was the first of the older vikings to be 'adopted' by a dragon. The Terrible Terror hadn't exactly been good for flying but Gobber said that he was more than happy to keep his feet on the ground. The Terrible Terror--or T.T., as Gobber christened it--was very good at lighting and maintaing very hot fires. Toothless, who liked to come to the blacksmith shop anyway, seemed to not mind the dragon as long as he got attention and it didn't try to steal his food. While the dragons had proven themselves to be largely not territorial, they had shown that they liked attention. Scratching, feeding--all of it was met very enthusiastically. And, like Toothless, once they had their favorite human, they got very protective. If they thought their human was spending too much time with another dragon they'd immediately try to get their human alone. After one too many almost 'attacks', someone had realized that as long as you made sure your dragon knew it was yours, they would be alright.

It was strange to see the other members of the village undergoing the same process that he and Hiccup had. From the first 'oh please don't kill me' moments to when the dragons slowly began to show affection back. Patience wasn't the strong suite of the villagers but when they saw Hiccup and Toothless, they seemed far more willing to put the effort in. Much to their surprise, the dragons seemed equally impatient with their vikings, which made for some rather comical moments. Like the first time someone had shown up with a weapon. It had been her, and she had brought her axe and Bluebell had bolted. It had taken her an hour to catch the dragon, another to convince her that she was not going to hurt her and a third to get her back to the village. Acclimatizing the dragons to the weapons was the hardest part. It was one thing if you weren't very good with them--like Hiccup--but vikings and their weapons went hand in hand. It had taken a while and a lot of sniffing and mishaps but Bluebell and the other dragons had become accustom to the weapons. T.T. of course had been the exception but, then again, Terrible Terrors had always been the hardest to kill because of their size and speed.

After countless hours and many failed attempts, Hiccup had finally managed to make a sort of all purpose foot that worked well in every day tasks. It wasn't perfect but it was close. As time went on the periods when his stump wasn't swollen became longer and longer as the skin toughened and became accustom to the new demands. There were days when it hurt to get up the hill, days when it hurt to do most things but overall it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been in the earlier days--something for which Hiccup was immensely grateful. Especially when it turned out that taking care of him wasn't the only reason Astrid came over to his house.

The first few times she had excuses. Then they began to quiet before they stopped all together. Toothless adored her and since she had been one of the best vikings in the class, his father thought she was a strong girl and therefore welcome to come in. Though Hiccup had a feeling that if it had been any girl who liked him, his father would've liked her. It was kind of weird though to see Astrid treating his father like a clan chief--even though that was what he was. Hiccup had spent so much of his life being laughed at and ridiculed that the issue of his father had never really come up. Fortunately Astrid didn't see the need to treat him differently.

"What are those?" she asked looking at the sack.

"These are stones," Hiccup said pulling one of the smooth rocks out and holding it in his hand, "Toothless picked 'em out. Dragons like to sleep somewhere warm and I think they're going to want to be indoors. I'm going to make Toothless somewhere to sleep."

"Is your dad going to be okay with that?" Astrid asked.

"You mean is he going to admit he's okay with it? Probably not."

Stoick the Vast and Toothless the dragon had the strangest relationship Hiccup had ever seen. He'd woken up to see the dragon standing over him, dry and warm and well fed and realized that his father had allowed it. That night Stoick had gruffly said Toothless was sleeping outside from now on but when he'd opened the door it was raining and Toothless had fixed him with the most pathetic look Hiccup had ever seen. Stoick was anything but a pushover but for some reason that had worked and the great Viking had shut the door and walked off, muttering something under his breath. Hiccup had been so happy that Toothless was there that he had been all for compromising but the next night when he went to put Toothless out for the night Stoick had told him to sit down and rest his foot and Toothless had spent another night there.

The subject never came up again.

Hiccup brought raw fish for Toothless who liked to eat in front of the fire and while his father complained loudly about the smell, bad smells weren't anything new for vikings and the complaints became half hearted at best. As Toothless slowly began to gravitate towards eating closer to the table, Hiccup watched his father and his dragon anxiously but they seemed to have reached some kind of understanding. When Toothless finally settled to eating next to the table with the two of them, he was right in the middle between the boy and his father. Hiccup was beginning to think that it was only a matter of time before Stoick started feeding Toothless fish. His father would still complain and Toothless would still huff but Hiccup knew in the end they'd be just fine.

"So, hunting trip, yeah, you're excited about that?" he asked looking at her.

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm excited about it. Hiccup its one of the last tests we have before we're full vikings! And we get to go out and hunt. No teachers, no parents, just us, our weapons and our prey," she finished with a grin before she realized that Hiccup wasn't grinning back, "you're not excited for it?" she asked finally.

"No, its not that, its just--" he broke off, obviously frustrated, "I am not a good viking. This, this I can do," he said motioning to the dragons and the sky, "but, lets be honest here, I had a dragon tied up and helpless and I couldn't kill it. How the hell am I going to kill something? And in front of everyone too!"

"Hiccup you've gone hunting before, haven't you?"

"Well yeah, but not for a long time," he said, resting his head on his hands, "and now its just--ugh, its just--" he trailed off.

"If you didn't want to go, no-one would blame you," Astrid said softly.

"You mean because of this?" Hiccup said, gesturing to his leg. Astrid could see the anger in his eyes, "I can't--Astrid I can't use this as an excuse!" he said angrily, his fingers tightening on his knee.

"I know, I know," Astrid said quickly, "its just, Hiccup, no-one wants to see you get hurt."

"Yeah," he said, "I know, its just--"

"Just what?" Astrid asked. Hiccup said nothing for a moment, "Hiccup--"

"My dad," he sad finally, like he was admitting a great secret, "my dad's the chief. And I always thought that he'd pick someone else to take over his job. But now everything's different. If I become a full viking, I can do what I was born to do. I won't just be Hiccup the useless or the screw up. I can be Hiccup the--Hiccup the--I don't know, something cool."

"You want your dad to be proud of you," Astrid said, her tone softening. Hiccup looked up at her.

"Its stupid, I know--" Hiccup began.

"Its not stupid," Astrid said, reaching out and covering his hand with her own and squeezing it comfortingly, "so you go on the hunting trip. You caught us all to fly, we can help you hunt--"

"What's wrong with your hands?" he asked abruptly, feeling wetness on the back of his own.

"Its nothing," she mumbled, pulling her hands back.

"Come on," he said gently, "you helped my leg. I can help with whatever you've got there. And if I can't, hey, you can tell me what to do."

Slowly the girl extended her hands. Hiccup looked at the tattered rags she'd wrapped around them. They were red and swollen and raw, deep lines criss crossing her palms. Her hands were tough from weapons but the stress of the reins and the cold of the air had wreaked havoc on her skin. Cradling her hands in his own, Hiccup glanced up at her face. Her features were tight, she'd obviously been pushing the pain to the side like a good viking should. But it looked like it hurt. And he knew that she had continued to train and push herself even though her hands had been chapped and bleeding. Even though she had seen him at his weakest point, she still seemed embarrassed by the fact that she was injured and had to be taken care of.

"Its not that bad," she began, "my skin just needs to get tougher--" she continued, trailing off with a hiss as a breeze blew by.

"Right, okay, come on," Hiccup said, "stay there."

"Hiccup its really nothing," she protested.

"Now its nothing," he said, "but if you let it go--"

Astrid sighed, knowing he had a point.

"Alright, fine," she said finally.

Hiccup walked over to where the dragons were sitting. Unsurprisingly Toothless was laying with his head on his folded front legs, looking out at the ocean while Bluebell had her nose under her wing joint, preening. Neither dragon looked up when they came, both attuned to knowing when their riders were in a lot of trouble. Toothless watched curiously as Hiccup undid a second bag tied to his saddle. Hiccup said something reassuring to the dragon, giving him a firm pat before coming back to where Astrid was sitting.

"Okay you're probably going to have to talk me through this," he said, lowering himself onto the rock and looking up at her.

"Hiccup," she began to protest, looking at the bandages and salve that were packed in the bag, "thats for you and your leg--"

"My legs fine," he said. She raised an eyebrow, "really, look!" he said untucking his pant leg and rolling it up to reveal his leg, "not swollen, already bandaged, doesn't even hurt--that much--and besides," he said looking down before looking up at her, "your hands are hurt."

"Okay fine!" Astrid said rolling her eyes at the look that she knew she'd never be able to say no to before thrusting out her hands, "I'll talk you through it."

Apparently the sight of bandages, salve and her hurt hands were enough to attract the attention of the dragons. Both head shot up and almost instantly both were on their feet, bolting over to where their riders were and encircling them. Problem was that they kept circling, their eyes locked with each other. Toothless was low to the ground but from his raised back and extended teeth, he wasn't happy with what was happening. Bluebell, in an uncharacteristic show of concern, was bent low as well, her tail raising in a threatening motion that Astrid had come to know meant she was about to shoot spikes out of her tail. Injuries forgotten, both vikings were quickly on their feet, back to back, rotating to try and speak to their dragons.

"Hey, buddy, come on, we're just helping Astrid out here," Hiccup said, trying to get Toothless to look at him, "we don't want her to get more hurt, right?"

"Bluebell, Bell, hey, over here," Astrid said motioning with her hands, "Hiccup's just helping me out. See? He's just being nice. There isn't anything to worry about--"

"Toothless---" Astrid grabbed Hiccup's wrist cutting him off, her eyes going over to the shields that lay by the ground where they had discarded them along with their weapons Hiccup looked over at her before giving a nod of response, showing he knew what she was planning to do, "you sure about this?"

"We can't let them hurt each other," she hissed back as both dragons arched, "now, Hiccup!"

It was anything but graceful as the two of them dove for the shields, threw themselves back and got them in place as Bluebell shot spikes and Toothless breathed fire. The impact jarred her hands and his foot, slamming them back to back as Astrid cried out before she could stop herself. Bluebell's spikes slammed hard through the shield as Toothless's fire burst sent heat crashing against the shield. But the shields had been designed to fend off dragon attacks and held strong as the two vikings gripped them for all they were worth, bracing against each other. For a moment no-one moved as the flames cleared. Both dragons and humans looked at each other, horror written all over their faces. Astrid's arms trembled as her hands screamed in pain.

Everyone started moving at once. Hiccup let out a loud bellow and shook his head, jumping up and down frantically. Bluebell set back on her haunches letting out a mournful wail before dropping onto the ground with her nose at Astrid's feet. All that Astrid had in her was going to keeping her grip on the shield's straps. Hiccup looked over at her, throwing his shield to the side and coming over to her front. Astrid was gripping the shield with a white knuckled hand. The cracks in her hand had broke, blood seeping down her hands and staining the straps of the shield. Hiccup quickly grabbed the edges of the shield, taking the weight onto his arms. Astrid's eyes squeezed shut as she bit her lip viciously, her only grace knowing that dropping the shield would hurt worse.

"Are you okay? Right, sorry, stupid question--" he looked at her, "lets get the shield off, okay?"

"I don't know if I can let go," Astrid said, her gaze wide and fearful.

"Yes you can," Hiccup said. Astrid's brows rose, "Astrid, come on, yes you can," he said, "let go of the shield."

"But--" she began.

"Astrid," his voice was softer, "yes you can."

His gaze was unwavering, strong and Astrid realized that he really did believe that she could. And as she looked at him she realized that she believed it too. Looking down she saw the blood that coated her fingers, saw the white knuckles that clenched the shield's straps with an iron grip. She felt the weight of the shield shift as Hiccup held all of it in his grip. Taking a deep breath, Astrid looked at her hands and slowly forced her fingers to open. Each movement hurt, the raw, bloody skin throbbing painfully with each movement. With another slow, shaky breath she released her grip fully and carefully withdrew her hands.

The moment she was free, Hiccup threw the shield aside as Astrid doubled over, cradling her hands to her chest. Putting an arm around her shoulders, he steered her over to where the boulder was, easing her onto the rock. The dragons looked at them intently, flat out refusing to look at each other. Reaching down into the bag he picked up the supplies that he brought with him, he turned to the girl who sat there with her sore and ruined hands cradled in her lap. Reaching down to the ground, Hiccup pulled out the bandages and turned to the girl. Astrid looked down at her raw and bloody hands. They looked so much worse now. They had never been this bad before, but the added stress was just much worse than before. She looked over at Hiccup who sat waiting patiently. Slowly she extended her hand towards him. Easily he slid his hand under hers and guided it to his lap.

Hiccup's hands had become rough as well with the abuse of dragon riding and the frost. But his hands had always been rough. It went with the territory of being a blacksmith's apprentice. When she thought about it though, Astrid realized that Hiccup's hands had been rougher too, right about the time that he must have found Toothless. With a feather light touch, Hiccup brushed his finger along the side of her palm. Astrid hissed softly at the touch as her skin pulled.

"Do your hands always get like this?" he asked looking up at her.

"Sometimes," she said, "okay, first--"

"Its okay, this I can do," he said with an easy smile. She looked at him warily, "blacksmith apprentice, remember?" he said.

"Oh right," she said ducking her head, her cheeks coloring in embarrassment.

"First days with Gobber, my hands bled for days. And that winter," he shook his head, "and all the healer said was 'tough up'."

"She tells me that too!" Astrid said.

"Easy for her to say, it looks like she hasn't been out of the village in years," he said, "okay this might sting just a bit," he said wringing a cloth of water out over her hand. Astrid jerked her hand but Hiccup gently held onto her wrist, "I'm just making sure its clean," he said.

"I know," she said, "it just--it stings," she finished, feeling her cheeks burn at the admission.

Hiccup nodded sympathetically. Astrid watched as he picked up a roll of the bandages and began to deftly wrap it around her hands, leaving it so she still had most of her range of motion. He switched to her other hand as Astrid flexed her fingers experimentally. He held her wrist gently as he performed the same job on the other hand. His movements were steady and sure and she could see the confidence in the gestures. When he was done he lowered his hands but he didn't make any moves to push hers away. Astrid let her hand stay on his lap, her palm neatly bandaged.

"You're really good at that," she said looking down at her hand.

"Well, you know, you pick things up here and there--" he scratched the back of his neck, "besides, I'm not as good as you are."

"Well that's true," Astrid said. Hiccup looked up at her, his glare bright with amusement, "but you're not bad," she looked over at their dragons, "Hiccup what are we going to do?" she asked.

Hiccup looked over his shoulder. Toothless was watching them with sharp eyes, his head still down and his tail lashing back and forth. Bluebell had her head turned so that one eye was on Astrid and one eye was on Toothless. Her tail was raised high in the air and from the texture of it, Astrid could tell she was about to shoot spikes. Astrid looked at them doubtfully. The two looked like they were moments from destroying each other and for the life of her she had no idea who would win. Only that she did not want to see them fight at all. Toothless was the first dragon she had ever known but Bluebell, Bluebell was _her_ dragon and if she didn't like Toothless, then she had no idea what they were going to do.

"I don't think they've ever lived like this before," Hiccup said, his mind formulating an idea, "okay I've got an idea," he said, walking over to where Toothless was.

"Bluebell?" Astrid turned to her dragon that looked ahead angrily at the two boys, "hey, Bluebell," she said stepping forward. The dragon's head snapped to her, "I'm okay, see?" she held out her hands, "it was just the winter. I don't have scales like you--"

She trailed off as the Nadder leaned forward, her nose inches from Astrid's hands. Astrid held her hands very still as the Nadder sniffed the tops and bottoms of her hands before turning her head sharply to the side for a visual inspection. Astrid held her hands out, letting the dragon inspect her. Finally Bluebell drew her head back, turning it to face the other two dragons. Furiously she sat so she was separating Astrid from Hiccup and Toothless. Raising her tail in an attack position, she growled at the two males. When Astrid took a step forward the dragon growled at her before turning back to them.

"Astrid, I don't think they're fighting," Hiccup said, "I think--" he looked at her, "I think Bluebell's protecting you."

"I think you might be right," she said looking down at the blue dragon, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Hey, look at that," Hiccup said with an easy grin, "who'd have thought you'd ever need protection from me?"

"Do you mean in or out of the training ring?" Astrid asked raising an eyebrow as she tried not to cross her arms or put her hands on her hips.

Toothless gave a humorous snort, shaking his head as if amused at what she had said. Bluebell looked at the the dragon before looking back at Astrid who was smiling and Hiccup who was not. Seemingly deciding that one person out of the three not smiling was not a terrible thing, Bluebell gave a snort and shook her head, rising backwards so that she was no longer a dragon blockade. Astrid smiled at her dragon who puffed up, looking extremely pleased with herself as Toothless continued to chuckle in the background. Astrid smiled at Bluebell who shifted her weight, continuing to look very pleased with herself.

"Well," she said with a playful smile, "I guess I don't need _that_ much protection from you," she said with a smile as she walked past her dragon. She walked over to Hiccup, "you on the other hand might need some."

"From what?" he asked, though the rough tone of his voice told otherwise.

"From me," Astrid said confidently, kissing him soundly on the mouth.

Both dragons made sounds of disgust and looked away as Hiccup's hands shyly encircled Astrid's waist, pulling the viking girl closer. With her bandaged hands at her sides, she kissed him back eagerly. Flying--like kissing--both Hiccup and Astrid had learned, was made even better when there was another person up there with you. By the time they pulled apart both Toothless and Bluebell had made new beds of embers on the ground and seemed determined to look anywhere but the kissing vikings. Neither could hold back their laughter at the sight of the two powerful dragons looking so offput by their vikings kissing.

"We should head back, before it gets dark," Hiccup said, looking over his shoulder at the sun that had begun to make its way to the horizon. He looked at her, "you think Bluebell would mind if you rode back with me?"

"Probably not if we let her fly first," Astrid said.

"I think Toothless'll go along with that. What do you think buddy?" Toothless gave him a look that plainly said he was more than capable of following another dragon, "right, point taken. Okay then, lets head back home."

"Okay. Bluebell, girl, you take us home. Okay?" Bluebell shook herself and got to her feet.

Hiccup helped Astrid onto Toothless before getting onto his back himself. Getting on was more awkward than getting off but he managed, locking his prosthetic foot into the special stirrup before sliding his other into the other one. Toothless easily got to his feet, waiting as Bluebell kicked off the ground seamlessly. Moving his weight back, Toothless bolted forward, using the momentum to kick off the edge of the cliff and take to the skies behind the blue dragon. As they flew back towards the village with Astrid's head resting on his shoulder and her chest pressed against his back, Hiccup couldn't help but think that while he loved her riding her dragon with him, he liked her riding on the same dragon even more. Bluebell led them to the village without any sort of acrobatics and Toothless followed without any sort of attempts at racing. Bluebell, surprisingly, flew easily through the village and led them right to Hiccup's house.

"I think this is supposed to work differently," Hiccup began.

"I think its fine," Astrid said, nimbly swinging her leg over the side and sliding down Hiccup's side. Coming to the front she gently scratched Toothless's head as Hiccup unhooked his foot and dismounted the dragon, "I'm really happy we got to fly together today," Astrid said, scuffing her foot on the ground.

"Me too," Hiccup said, "you're getting really good up there," Bluebell snorted, "both of you, you're getting good."

"Well we're learning from the best," Astrid said with a smile, "and, I'll return the favor," she said, "on that hunt you're gonna do great. Promise. And besides, you already saved the world. This is nothing. Don't look so scared."

"Whose scared? Me?" his grin was half hearted at best, "just make sure you keep those hands warm, dry and up to par."

"Thats sweet," Astrid said playfully flicking her braid over her shoulder. Hiccup looked at her curiously, "when you worry about me."

"I could say the same to you," he replied easily.

"I don't worry about you!" she shot back.

"Okay okay," Hiccup said with an offhanded smile, "no worrying. Only ass-kicking."

"Right," Astrid said, "well," she began after a moment, "I should probably get home. And I bet Bluebell wants to go to the lake to sleep."

"She's still sleeping outside?" Hiccup asked.

"Yep," Astrid said with a nod, "you don't think thats not normal, do you?" she asked.

"I'm sure its fine. Besides, what's normal anymore?"

"Good point," Astrid said looking over at her dragon before looking back at Hiccup, "well I should probably--"

"Oh right, absolutely--"

"Night!" Astrid said as she and Bluebell made their way to the path that would take her home and the dragon to the water.

Hiccup watched her and Bluebell go before Toothless nudged him with his nose. Hiccup looked down at his dragon and shook his head.

"We gotta work on our girl skills, buddy," he said.

The dragon gave a snort of disagreement as the two of them made their way up the hill. At the bottom of the hill, Astrid looked over her shoulder as the boy and the dragon made their way up towards the house at the top. He looked sturdy enough and Toothless was there in case he stumbled but Astrid still felt a coil of fear in her stomach. The memory of him tripping was all too clear in her mind. She just didn't want him to get hurt again. And if he didn't know she was looking, all the better--

Toothless turned his head and flashed them a bright grin, clearly saying he knew that they were watching them.

Astrid swore, turning and watching as the two of them walked fully up the hill to his house.

Turning around, Astrid walked back towards her house, expecting Bluebell to head to her spot by the river. But the dragon trailed after her in the same manner she had seen Toothless trail after Hiccup, dragon watching intently to make sure the viking was alright. As they walked, Astrid realized that other dragons and vikings were watching them curiously, studying what they were doing and it occurred to Astrid that all of Hiccup's interactions with Toothless had been by trail and error. There had been no-one to show them how a viking and a dragon were supposed to interact. But by watching them, Bluebell was imitating Toothless, albiet far more cautiously. As if she was still unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. By the time they got to her house, Bluebell was still behind her.

"Goodnight girl," Astrid said to the dragon, nudging the door open gently and stepping into the threshhold, expecting the Nadder to take off.

She didn't.

Astrid's eyes widened as she realized that Bluebell was fully expecting to come inside. Opening and closing her mouth, she looked over her shoulder. If the embers in the hearth were any indication, her mother wasn't home. Bluebell lowered her head, looking at the viking intently and Astrid realized that standing in the doorway debating her mother's reaction was pointless. Stepping to the side, she held the massive door open as best she could while Bluebell happily trotted inside. Of course a dragon trotting meant that the floor shook. In a few steps Bluebell was in front of the fire. Shaking herself, the dragon blew out a puff of flame, easily lighting the fire back up. Without fuel, however, it died quickly. Bluebell raised her head, cocking it to the side as she tried to figure it out.

"Here, these," Astrid motioned as best she could with her hands.

Bending down, Bluebell grabbed two in her jaws and put them on the embers before repeating the process. This time the fire started and took, burning brightly in the hearth. Bluebell settled down, shifting to get comfortable before curling in front of the fire. Astrid shook her head at just how at home her dragon looked curled in front of the fire before sitting down herself, stretching out her legs with a yawn.

"Astrid Hofferson, what happened to your hands--and by Thor's hammer _why_ is there a dragon sitting in front of the fire?!"

* * *

**And that's the last of the two. One about Hills, one about Bluebell(s). Who is a dragon. But now I get to tell you about the new fic!**

**Its called "By Land and Sea" and its a multichaptered story, currently in the first chapter. There is going to be HiccupxAstrid but the rest of the young vikings are going to be there too. Its on my author profile and/or you can just go to the HTTYD section. But I kept getting so many requests for more, I just had to do it! So if you want more Astrid/Hiccup, go there!**

**ALSO after an unfortunate incident allow me to make this clear: IF YOU WANT TO USE THE NAME BLUEBELL YOU MUST ASK ME FIRST. You cannot just take it. Contact me and we will talk but if you just 'take' the name, even with crediting me, your story will be considered plagiarism and will be treated as such. I thought it was common sense but apparently not. **

**As for this story, well, please review! **


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